Morphological and molecular diversity of microalgae isolated from wastewater bodies and swamp complexes

Abstract

In this context, the development of technologies aimed at caring for the environment, reusing waste and generating low-cost clean energy has become essential. Among these technologies, microalgae cultures have become very important, as they are considered to be eco-friendly processes, since they efficiently recycle pollutants from liquid and gaseous media. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify taxonomically and molecularly morpho-genera of microalgae present in the Gran de Corozal stream and the San Benito de Abad swamp, in the department of Sucre, Colombia. Water sampling was carried out in two ecosystems of creek and swamp and finally identification at morphological and molecular level. The highest diversity of genera was found in the San Benito de Abad marsh body. The main morpho-genera corresponded to: Aulacoseira sp., Cyclotella sp., Chlamydomonas sp., Desmodesmus sp., Euglena sp., Monomastix sp., Mychonastes sp., Phacus sp., Paraphysomonas sp., and Thalassiosira sp. Research with microalgae has reached an enormous importance due, fundamentally, to the combination of uses they can have for the ecosystem in that water bodies and for the community in general.